Sri Lanka take historic win against England
Chamari Athapaththu hit 55 runs off 31 deliveries to guide her team to an easy win against the English women
Charlie Dean’s 34 was the only score of more than 20 in England’s innings. Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu then hit an entertaining 55 from 31 balls as her side reached their target with 40 balls to spare.
Athapaththu was dismissed by Alice Capsey with 26 runs still required but Harshitha Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne calmly completed the chase. Sri Lanka were understandably jubilant in celebration, Samarawickrama raising her arms aloft as she sealed the winning runs with a six off Kate Cross.
England opener Danni Wyatt was bowled in the first over to spark a dismal collapse that saw England stutter to 51-6 at the halfway mark, a stark contrast to the 186-4 that they posted in the first T20 at Hove on Thursday.
England made the decision to rest key players for this series after a hectic Ashes summer, with Sophia Dunkley, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone, who has since dislocated her shoulder, rested.
But a relatively inexperienced England side were still heavy favourites to win all three Women’s T20s against Sri Lanka, who are significantly behind the hosts in professionalism, finances and depth of talent.
The joy on the Sri Lankan’s faces as they celebrated on the outfield showed exactly how much this historic victory means.
They produced an admirable performance, led by an astonishing fightback with the ball from the thrashing in the series opener, using their main strength in spin bowling.
England’s batters had no answers, with Amy Jones getting trapped on the crease and Capsey, Knight and Maia Bouchier all gifting catches with loose shots – Athapaththu’s sharp turner to bowl Wyatt the only wicket to not feature batter error.
Athapaththu has been Sri Lanka’s star for years, their only batter with franchise experience, but she seems to relish the pressure of leading from the front.
England boast a bowling attack that could defend 104, but she smashed 20 runs from the third over of the chase off Cross, and continued to attack with swagger to ensure the fine bowling performance was not wasted. She faced 31 deliveries for her 55, which had eight fours and two sixes. Samarawickrama remained unbeaten on 30 off 35 deliveries, inclusive of three boundaries and a six.
The series decider takes place at Derby on Wednesday. The two sides will then take on each other in the three-match Women’s ODI series from September 9 to 14.
| SCORECARD | |
| England Women Danni Wyatt b Athapaththu 01 Maia Bouchier c Dilhari b Fernando 12 Alice Capsey c Fernando b Kumari 03 Heather Knight c and b Ranaweera 14 Amy Jones lbw b Ranaweera 12 Freya Kemp st Sanjeewani b Dilhari 02 Danielle Gibson c Ranaweera b Fernando 09 Charlie Dean b Prabodhani 34 Sarah Glenn c Sanjeewani b Dilhari 00 Issy Wong b Prabodhani 13 Kate Cross not out 01 Extras (w3) 03 Total (all out; 18 overs) 104 Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Wyatt, 0.6ov), 2-15 (Capsey, 3.3ov), 3-21 (Bouchier, 4.1ov), 4-41 (Jones, 7.5ov), 5-46 (Kemp, 8.2ov), 6-48 (Knight, 9.2ov), 7-65 (Gibson, 11.6ov), 8-66 (Glenn, 12.5ov), 9-99 (Wong, 17.2ov), 10-104 (Dean, 17.6ov) Bowling: Chamari Athapaththu 3-0-11-1, Udeshika Prabodhani 3-0-19-2, Inoshi Fernando 4-0-16-2, Sugandika Kumari 2-0-16-1, Inoka Ranaweera 3-0-25-2, Kavisha Dilhari 3-0-17-2 Sri Lanka Women Chamari Athapaththu c Cross b Capsey 55 Anushka Sanjeewani c Dean b Gibson 01 Harshitha Samarawickrama not out 30 Vishmi Gunaratne not out 18 Extras (nb5, w1) 06 Total (2 wickets; 13.2 overs) 110 Did not bat: Hasini Perera, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoshi Fernando Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Sanjeewani, 1.3ov), 2-79 (Athapaththu, 9.2ov) Bowling: Kate 2.2-0-33-0, Danielle Gibson 1-0-9-1, Charlie Dean 2-0-19-0, Issy Wong 2-0-24-0, Sarah Glenn 3-0-11-0, Alice Capsey 3-0-14-1 |